Bring It On
by Nyirria
Summary: Just a day in a busy industry city, with Joel and Austin. It's pretty much just regular interaction with tidbits of fluff.


A white victorian baby grand sat in the middle of the empty music hall, and Joel eyed it carefully with astonishment, as if the beautiful instrument would crack under his gaze. He ran his fingers along the edge, whining at how smooth the polished wood felt against his skin. Joel felt like he was in heaven, being in the same room with a gorgeous piano such as this one.

He slowly pulled the piano bench out from underneath, chuckling at how modern the seat looked compared to the antique-styled piano, with its leather seating. Joel sat himself down and let his foot rest lightly on the pedal. His hands clenched the edge of the bench and he hesitated before resting his fingers on the ivory keys. Joel tested the keys and marveled at how easy it was to fluidly play on the baby grand.

Smiling, Joel started to play a well-known piece by Beethoven, known as _Moonlight Sonata_. His smile faded into the air surrounding him as the played notes echoed off the walls and into the traveling corridors. He poured his soul into the piece, letting himself improvise on some parts.

Joel could've gone on further, but ended his playing of the long _Moonlight Sonata_ and began to play a piano cover of a more modern song. "Your Call" by Secondhand Serenade. The sad melody bounced around the hall, and Joel closed his eyes, letting his fingers take over the victorian keys.

In such a wondrous reverie, Joel didn't notice the opening of the large double doors on the hall. Crowds of people entered the hall and began to circle around the piano, a generous distance away from the player. They stayed silent as Joel mashed multiple songs together; songs from The Cab, Parachute, Hot Chelle Rae, and all the bands the redhead admired.

It was when Joel was finished did he open his eyes, surprised to see and hear dozens upon dozens of people clapping and whistling for his performance. Joel stood up and bowed with a stunned expression, while everyone kept clapping. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, finding Austin smirking at him with an amused expression.

"I was wondering where you ran off to."

Joel turned a light shade of pink, cupping his elbows with his palms. "Sorry for disappearing." Austin shrugged it off.

"You looked so lost in your music, your face was so calm during the whole thing, as if you were stuck in your own personal world. Where music's always playing to your taste, whether you feel like listening to classical or pop," Austin said. "Someone heard you playing from outside and everyone was curious to find out who it was. And sure enough, it was you, Metropolis's musical prodigy."

Joel flushed a much brighter pink and rubbed the back of his neck. "Someone heard from outside? I never knew these walls were _that_ thin. They don't look thin."

Austin chuckled and grabbed Joel's left wrist before moving down to enlace their fingers. "Come on, and I still see that you haven't gotten over your shyness or stage fright completely. I don't blame you, it's cute," Austin teased, winking at Joel with a smirk. "Being cute for me."

"I'm not _trying_ to be cute for you," Joel plainly stated, as Austin dragged him through the crowd, though the smile on his lips said otherwise.

Austin managed to get them through the tight crowd and they emerged out of the hall and out onto the busy street. Joel scrunched his nose at the smell of cigarette smoke and covered his mouth and nose with his scarf. Austin saw the action and smiled.

"Not used to the smell of smoke?"

Joel shook his head and continued to cover himself while Austin wove them in and out of the sidewalk traffic. Crossing streets here and there, passing strips of shops selling knickknacks, skateboards, as well as tattoo and piercing parlors. Joel peered inside the skateboard shop for a brief few seconds as they passed by, remembering that he needed some new wheels on his board soon.

"Well, I don't want you to get used to it. It'll cripple your lungs even if you're not the one taking the drag," Austin said, pulling Joel inside of a small diner that was furnished and decorated to resemble a 1950's American joint. Complete with posters covering the walls and a jukebox near the door.

Austin pushed his sunglasses up his forehead while Joel fixed his panama hat, and led them both into a red leather booth, Austin seated on one side, and Joel on the other. They flipped leisurely through the menus available to them.

A bright and preppy blonde waitress sauntered over in heels that clacked the floor, a memo notepad and pen in her hands. She flashed the duo a bright smile and clicked her pen on. "What will you two gentlemen have today?"

Austin clapped his menu closed and lightly poked Joel's shin with the toe of his sneakers, giving the younger male a wink quick as lightning.

Joel cleared his throat before looking at the bubbly waitress, "We'll have two mushroom burgers, with one chocolate and one vanilla milkshake."

The waitress, whose name was Sabrina, according to her name tag, jotted down their order and placed the pen back behind her ear. "Alright, your orders'll come up in less than ten minutes I assure you, I'll just bring this to our chefs." She started to walk off, but looked over her shoulder at the last second.

"By the way, I absolutely love the two of you and your clothes. Especially you and your panama hat," Sabrina smiled, disappearing through the door to the kitchen with her clacking heels.

Austin and Joel stared at each other until they broke into a fit of laughter.

"What _was_ that?" Joel laughed.

"A compliment from the waitress, but that hat does suit you, and she happened to notice," Austin said, smiling as Joel's pink cheeks returned to their regular pale color.

Joel looked out the window and his eyes scanned the variety of people who walked on the sidewalk of Los Angeles. "I wonder how many times she compliments guys and girls who dress like us in a day, 'cause, look outside, there's so many people who're under the influence of being a hipster."

"True dat," Austin said, taking out his phone while Joel kept on looking out the window behind his Ray-Ban glasses.

Trying to discreetly look at Joel, Austin turned on his phone camera and took a few vintage shots of the retro diner and his boyfriend. He smirked as he flipped through the taken photos and slipped his phone back into his pocket, whistling a tune from Justin Timberlake's latest single, "Not A Bad Thing."

Joel looked at Austin with a smirk and tapped his fingers on the table. "You took stolen shots of me, I know. You can stop your whistling cover. It's not very effective anyway."

Austin smiled cheekily and rested his back against the leather, keeping his eyes closed until he heard the clicking of high heels.

Sabrina brought the tray down and placed down two mushroom burgers, complete with fries and ketchup, accompanied with the two popularly ordered milkshakes. "Enjoy your meal you two, and be glad you came this early, 'cause usually after another hour it's _unbelievably packed_ with people."

The duo thanked her as she left and the two began to chow done on their orders. Austin popped a fry into his mouth, while Joel sipped his milkshake through a swirly straw.

"What do you wanna do after we eat?"

Joel's eyebrows rose and he swallowed, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Go home, I guess? I'd rather not keep inhaling secondhand smoke and go back to Metro."

Austin nodded and sipped his chocolate milkshake, swirling his straw through the fluffy foam. His pocket vibrated suddenly, and Austin wiped his hands on a napkin before taking out his cell. Joel looked at the phone in Austin's hand with curiousity.

The brunette shrugged and set his phone down on the table before resuming his dinner. Joel looked at Austin questioningly, an eyebrow raised, with his burger in his hands. "Who was that?"

"Hm?" Austin chewed on two fries, swallowing before he grinned at Joel. "It was my ex."

Joel nearly spit out his food. "_Gigi_?"

"Yup," Austin confirmed, smiling as he looked over the long text bubbles again. "She's still angry and sad and pissed at me for breaking up with her. Dropping in a few f-bombs in the messages she's been sending me," he said, sliding over his phone to Joel. "Take a look at what she's said so far."

Joel picked up the phone and scrolled through the texts from Gigi. His eyes widened as he kept looking through. "Wow. I never knew she had it in her to spit fire with strings of swear words."

Austin chuckled, licking his fingers. "I honestly don't even know why I dated her. She looks like her whole makeup box threw up on her with that heavy mascara, thick lipstick, and the _ridiculous_ pounds of eyeshadow."

Joel shook his head at the messages he was reading. "…how she manages to sound calm while cursing, I will never know or understand."

Austin shrugged, finished with his food as he sipped the last of his chocolate malt. "You done?"

Joel nodded, handing the Australian back his phone as he drunk the remaining few sips of his vanilla shake. "You've got an awfully furious girl waiting for you back in town, you ready to face her fiery wrath?" Joel asked playfully, as the two of them stood from their seats. Austin tossed a couple of bills onto the table.

Austin spread his arms out as if to challenge him. "Bring it on. And it's not like I'm fighting her alone, Gigi knows that you"—he lightly poked Joel in the chest—"are my current boyfriend."

The two laughed as they exited the diner, hand in hand as they maneuvered through the large mass of people in the city of angels. The last glimpse one would have of them back in the diner, would be a small peck on the cheek by Austin. They couldn't wait to see the brunette's flaming ex-girlfriend.

* * *

**A/N** : Gigi's fiery wrath. Haha. Only Magnus Bane can pull off the glitter, _ribbette_.


End file.
